This archive report was first published on 10 July 2020.
Microsoft Teams Expands Virtual Meetings ¶
July 10, 2020 - Microsoft Teams is upgrading its virtual platform to support larger groups for meetings and classes, with new features to make virtual interactions more natural and engaging.
As part of this upgrade, meeting organizers will soon be able to bring together up to 20,000 participants for a view-only meeting experience, while interactive meetings will support up to 1,000 participants.
These upgrades are part of a new set of features in Microsoft Teams that aim to make virtual interactions more natural, engaging, and human.
According to Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365, the company has spent the last few months learning from its customers and studying how they use its tools.
"As the global response to COVID-19 evolves, communities around the world have moved from an era of 'remote everything' into a more hybrid model of work, learning, and life," Spataro explained.
One of the new features, called Together Mode, uses AI segmentation technology to digitally place participants in a shared background, making it feel like they're sitting in the same room.
Another feature, called Dynamic View, offers an extraordinary new meeting experience that gives users more control over how they see shared content and other participants in a meeting.
Additionally, users will soon be able to react during meetings using emojis, and chats sent during meetings will surface on the screens of all meeting participants.
Microsoft also plans to add speaker attribution to live captions and provide live transcripts later this year.
"Unless otherwise specified, all of these features will roll out later this year," Spataro said.
